In Grammar^x, Simple past^x

1 SENTENCES 1 What are you doing I tell __ you not to touch my suitcase 2 What an unusual print Where you find __ it In both cases the grammar book gives me as keys the simple past I told you and did you find it and so I told my students Anyway some of them put the present perfect and asked me...

1 focused here is the particle form of the verb also used as an adjective it describes the state of the mind of those managers their mind is well focussed 2 this is verb simple past it describes the action of those managers they were pointing focussing their attention on something You just have...

Grammar Geek wrote Hi Pastsimple Ironically you should have used the simple past I used this phrase The combination of today and what was probably a single use makes simple past appropropriate If you in fact did say it several times today and were planning on saying it again then I have used...

CalifJim wrote Can we use unless in main clausesAs soon as you add unless it becomes a subordinate clause There are therefore no clauses with unless which are main clauses Anyway I did not understand the BBC s idea of the usage of unless Not one of their examples showed an incorrect sentence...

I think that s correct The past perfect may have been a stylistic choice to emphasize the historic element But I do think the simple past tense would work English grammar can get a little squishy here and there meaning that a lot of writers bend the rules for style which can create a lot of...

If you are looking for a grammar book which contains an answer to all your questions and also questions you had never thought of asking then the best book to consult is A Comprehensive Grammar of English by Randolph Quirk et al Should it be you never thought simple past and not you had never...

Hi I guess I might as well ask another question I have in this thread It would make life simpler if you started another thread I think It makes the discussion easier to follow and to respond to OK Eg I had been eating when Bob arrived I was eating when Bob arrived The was and had been are both...

The best way is to consul a grammar book Like MH said you could find threads here The simple past indicates that an activity or situations began and ended at a particular time in the past

Grammar Geek wrote There is no difference in the level of politeness in these sentences and to suggest that the use of past perfect is more polite than simple past is absurd Yeah for an American indeed How would one tell

CalifJim wrote In actual practice the use of the past perfect quite frequently violates the mathematically precise timelines set out for it in grammar books It is merely an indicator that something happened in the context of something past Now the problem is that this past point of view has to...